George McGavin

A short documentary about the challenges a baby spider monkey named Kalu faces growing up in the jungle of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. He must learn to climb, forage for food, communicate, face predators and make difficult decisions in order to survive. It shows the resilience and beauty of nature and highlights the importance of protecting it for future generations. The film is narrated by George McGavin, one of Britain's leading entomologists and naturalists, and produced with support from the BioSur Foundation, an NGO working to protect rainforests in Costa Rica.

Zoologist and explorer George McGavin goes in search of some of the world's most impressive swarms. By getting right to the heart of these natural spectacles, he finds out why swarms are the ultimate solution to surviving against all odds and discovers how unlocking the secrets to how animals swarm could be crucial to understanding our own increasingly crowded lives.

Oak Tree: Nature's Greatest Survivor. In this landmark new BBC documentary, entomologist George McGavin takes us on a fascinating journey through a year in the life of a 400-year-old oak tree.

Ant colonies are one of the wonders of nature: complex, organised… and mysterious. This programme reveals the secret, underground world of the ant colony, in a way that’s never been seen before. At its heart is a massive, full-scale ant nest, specially designed and built to allow cameras to see its inner workings. The nest is a new home for a million-strong colony of leafcutter ants from Trinidad. For a month, entomologist Dr George McGavin and leafcutter expert Prof Adam Hart capture every aspect of the life of the colony, using time-lapse cameras, microscopes, microphones and radio tracking technology. The programme explores how these tiny insects can achieve such spectacular feats of collective organisation. It also reveals the workings of one of the most complex and mysterious societies in the natural world – and shows the surprising ways in which ants are helping us solve global problems.

Oceanographer Dr Helen Czerski and zoologist Dr George McGavin carry out an ‘autopsy’ on the North Sea to understand the startling changes taking place in the world's oceans.

Ever wondered what would happen in your own home if you were taken away, and everything inside was left to rot? The answer is revealed in this fascinating programme, which explores the strange and surprising science of decay. For two months in summer 2011, a glass box containing a typical kitchen and garden was left to rot in full public view within Edinburgh Zoo. In this resulting documentary, presenter Dr George McGavin and his team use time-lapse cameras and specialist photography to capture the extraordinary way in which moulds, microbes and insects are able to break down our everyday things and allow new life to emerge from old. Decay is something that many of us are repulsed by. But as the programme shows, it's a process that's vital in nature. And seen in close up, it has an unexpected and sometimes mesmerising beauty.

Talented chefs battle it out against the clock, creating delicious dishes in 20 minutes

A topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One.